Worsening Covid-19 situation in Malaysia leads to plant stoppage for Ford Germany

Production of the Ford Fiesta at Ford’s plant in Cologne, Germany will be suspended from 23-August to 28-August, due to shortage in semiconductor parts from Malaysia.

According to a report by Germany’s Automobilwoche, the worsening Covid-19 situation in Malaysia has disrupted production of the Fiesta’s door module, which relies on parts made by a Malaysian supplier.

"Due to a production stoppage at a semiconductor manufacturer, Ford Fiesta production at our Cologne plant will be suspended from 23-August to 28," a Ford spokesperson confirmed to Automotive News Europe, Automobilwoche‘s sister publication.

"We are working as quickly as possible to resume production."

The publication also said that due to a lack of door modules, Ford has switched to a short-time work arrangement since 17-August, and will continue doing so for two weeks.

However the report adds this could be extended, as the supply of material in the week starting 6-September is still uncertain.

The report didn’t say who is the Malaysian supplier but IndustriALL Global Union says the ST Microelectronics plant in Muar, Johor has been linked to more than 100 Covid-19 cases, with 600 workers placed in quarantine. 19 staff have since died from the disease.

On Tuesday, Roslan Bin Rosdi, deputy president of the Electronics Industry Employees Union Southern Region Peninsular Malaysia said, "We are saddened by the demise of the co-workers at STM. This could have been prevented if regular social dialogues had been held between the management and the union. We call on STM to strictly implement health protocols and sanitize all production sites."

Kan Matsuzaki, IndustriALL electronics director, said “IndustriALL expresses sincere condolences with the families of the 19 workers. We urge STM to walk the talk on its sustainability strategy, which emphasizes putting people first and protecting everyone’s life.”

The Covid-19 situation in Malaysia has disrupted production of NIssan vehicles in USA, as well as Tesla and Nio in China, all due to shortage of certain Bosch components, which are made using electronic parts packaged in Malaysia.